Michael Jackson wanted Bad to beat Thriller

The late King of Pop – who died of acute Propofol intoxication in 2009 – was ‘’very self-motivated’’ and even pinned up signs around his house to urge himself to work harder on the iconic 1987 LP in a bid to outdo his previous effort, which is the best-selling album of all time.

Director Spike Lee – who has been working on ‘Bad 25’, a documentary about the making of the album – told MTV News: ‘’I learned that, number one, he was very self-motivated. Even though it was an impossible task, Michael wanted ’Bad’ to outsell ‘Thriller’. And everywhere he’d go, he’d put up signs, write on mirrors in bathrooms; ‘100 million.’ ’’

‘’He always wanted to surpass what he had done previously and 100 million albums sold. He was determined to do that.’’

Since its 1982 release, ‘Thriller’ has sold more than 110 million copies across the globe.

Though ‘Bad’ never matched its success, the record is still the fifth best-selling album of all time, shifting around 30 million copies worldwide.

Next month sees the release of ‘Bad 25’, a repackaged version of the album that will include the documentary, unreleased demo songs, remixes and concert footage.